Medical News to the Public Via App

Researchers at the Institute
of Health and Society at The University of Oslo are developing an app that can
help spread new medical knowledge as soon as it is available.

A patient wants the
best possible treatment when admitted to a healthcare facility. The reality is that research
results to practical application can be a lengthy process. Owing to assessment
and comparison of new findings within a particular field, this can take more
than a year and, by this time, new studies have been published.

Per Olav Vandvik, a
researcher at the Institute of Health and Society, is aiming to share knowledge
shared more swiftly with an app he and his colleagues have developed called
MAGICapp.

The app will gather
evidence-based medical knowledge from around the world and disseminate it
quickly and efficiently to users.

"We want doctors
and patients to be able to reap the benefits from new knowledge more
easily," Vandvik explains.

Quality Control

"It is obviously
essential that the information in MAGICapp is totally reliable," Vandvik
said in a report published with the institute.

To this end, all
information in the app comes from established organisations and specialist
communities that develop medical guidelines. These bodies assess new findings against
internationally-accepted standards, and then spread the information to health
personnel and authorities.

Many countries have
started to use MAGICapp. The Norwegian Directorate of Health has established an
innovation project with the aim of using MAGICapp for all national guidelines.
MAGICapp is used by the Danish Health Authority, the Finnish Medical
Association and others.

Wide Use"It is important
to us that results be made available to a wider audience," Vandvik said.

Content will be
available to the general public as well as medical professionals so both can jointly
open the app and find recommended therapies and other necessary medical
knowledge.

The information will
be layered all the way down to studies on which facts and figures are based so
users can choose how deep they wish to go.

"Our goal is that
the app should help promote a good dialogue between therapists and
patients," Vandvik said. "Useless therapies are an unnecessary burden
on the patients and a waste of health resources.”